What is the purpose of watch collaborations? The answers are multiple. MB&F has made it its business model: these are its famous Friends. Louis Erard follows roughly the same path, but for collaborations focused almost exclusively on the aesthetics of the pieces, whereas MB&F has developed about twenty in-house movements.
But Bvlgari follows a different path. For the Roman jeweler, the object is not (only) to make additional business: the Octo Finissimo is already its flagship, the piece has no need for "collabs" to sell. The goal sought is elsewhere: to demonstrate its versatility, its plurality. Its aesthetic potential. To open new horizons. And to unleash the reins of Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bvlgari’s creative director & designer.
A rich history already
Past collaborations are already numerous. In 2023, Bvlgari and Laurent Picciotto (Chronopassion) had already co-created an Octo Finissimo Tattoo Fuoco, entirely tattooed: the Octo Finissimo in a wild and urban version.
The same year, Bvlgari unveiled a reworked variant with the auction house Phillips. The approach was radically different. The piece was very restrained, with a sector dial and, above all, without its faithful small seconds: the Octo Finissimo demonstrated its versatility with, this time, a very classic, almost neo-vintage approach.
But it is in the direction of contemporary art that Bvlgari then moves. Its latest creations give several artists free rein to completely reimagine the ultra-thin diva’s design. In 2024, the Roman house partnered with Laurent Grasso, a French artist who imagined an Octo Finissimo simply blue, without any indications, with a slight pink cloud on its dial: the approach is gentle, dreamlike, and unisex. Yet another new field explored for the Octo Finissimo, which proved this time that its lines and sharp edges could blend into a cerulean décor of supple poetry.
2025, a new turning point
It then becomes clear that the Octo Finissimo actually has no artistic limits. It can be imagined as traditional, wild, classic, unisex, or highly horological: everything suits it, as long as the work is carried out with taste and elegance, which Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani always guarantees.
Bvlgari went even further. With the Octo Finissimo Lee Ufan, the house, for the first time, separated the case from the dial. For the first: hand-filed titanium. For the second: a dial with mirror effects. The piece explores nuances, plays of shadow and light, differences in material, between the filed metal and its slight relief, and the perfectly smooth surface of the dial (the work is quite close to what the brand had already done in 2021 with the Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando, the only collaboration offered across three models). Disorienting, but devilishly effective for an audience often composed of contemporary art collectors.
Breaking news
The two latest collaborations explore (once again!) new creative fields: regional homage, dedicated to a chosen culture. The first was devoted to Mexico, with two limited-edition watches celebrating Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera — two of the most prominent artists of the 20th century. Here again, Bvlgari innovated, as the Octo Finissimo designed for Diego Rivera shared the stage with a yellow gold Tubogas Manchette for Frida Kahlo.
The second regional project was recently revealed at Dubai Watch Week. The Octo Finissimo pays tribute to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai. The approach is similar to that of the Chronopassion Tattoo, but with Arabic calligraphy of rare beauty. The piece is limited to 70 units.
